I went back to the store today to look at the samples again...and I was happy to see them, but rather miffed at one of the MAs. She told another MA where the samples were so I could look, all happy to help me, but later, got on a high horse about MAs not wanting to know what's coming ahead of time as it spoils the surprise. First, if all MAs felt this way, we'd never get any advanced product information or collection names. Second, we'd never see early images. Third, we'd never see stuff up on eBay for sale prior to releases. Obviously, not all MAs feel this way. She actually stood there and told me that I had only a minute to look at the products before she took them away. HELLO! Why in the Sam H-E-double matchsticks do you guys even have the samples out on the floor if you don't want customers to see them! If they are so "secret" why do you get to see them early and even if the MAs get to see them, why are they not kept in the back. These were in the front of the store, on the counter by the cash wrap, not behind it, but near it. If I was looking at the brushes, they were in front of me. Only reason I did not say something nasty is that it's the only stand alone in over 100 miles. If I was still in So Cal, I'd take my huge MAC purchasing ability to another store and let other MAC addicts know and possibly drop their sales.

I really wanted to look at these too as I will be out of town and wanted to be able to preorder at this store. Maybe now I won't purchase at the store and try to get to a stand alone in Cal that morning. I'll be in Glendale, so I can always stop by Pasadena at 10 am. I'll have to pay tax, but that's worth it to make the store miss my purchase. Aargh!

Okay, I am going to stop ranting for now and focus on the products. One pissy MA won't ruin my excitement over this collection. Much. :)

Play on Plums - pretty, but won't get.Sea & Sky - can't decide on this yet. Love the blue, but not sure I'd really use it often, if ever. Though the light blue is unique for my collection.Hot Contrast - I don't like the black as it's chalky, but the reddish color is very pretty. Only fear is that it will be like the red/purple combo of last year that I have not used once.Love Connection - not very good color pay off and a lot of fall out.Two to Glow - the store did not have this, but I don't wear many oranges.Odd Couple - The purple is really pretty, but again, not sure I'll wear it and it's really close to Violet pig. The other color is not that great.Polar Opposites - pretty, but don't need grays.Fresh Green Mix - still getting this one. LOVE the colors.Pink Split - still indecisive on this. Do I really need more pinks?

So, I think I'll be getting three: Fresh Green Mix, Sea & Sky, and Hot Contrast. Now if I can just be to a store that day!!!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

I am so excited! I got to see the Electroflash Mineralized Eyeshadow Duos. I went to MAC to return my Deep Truth - after learning it was coming out in two months along with Shadowy Lady which I need - and I exchanged it for Plumage after hearing so many raves over it. But, I digress... The MA brought out the Duos for me to look at. I was quite excited as I will be in LA when they release and she said I can call next week to preorder them. Whoo-hoo! I drove home with the swatches on my hand so that I could photo them and compare my stash.

Fresh Green Mix Mélange/Mono - Golden olive with blue, gold and aqua veining/Lime mono: I had not seen a swatch of Fresh Green Mix and it is AWESOME! The mono is this great fresh green and I have nothing like it. The melange side is very close to Night Light pigment.

Odd Couple Mélange/Mono - Warm gold with lavender and bronze veining / Purple mono: The purple is gorgeous. It's like a darker version of Violet pigment. The gold color is more like a copper

Sea & Sky Mélange/Mono - Silvery pale blue with deep blue and silver veining / Bright blue mono: The blue is very similar to Deep Truth, but brighter. The pale blue is like nothing I have. It's probably comparable to maybe Fade e/s or Mutiny pig, but neither are quite right.

Pink Split Mélange/Mono - Dirty rose with bronze and pale blue veining / Pink with gold pearl mono: As much as I hate to admit it, I love this duo. I have WAY too many pinks, but I honestly could not find exact dups in my collection. Some were close, but not quite it. I'd say that the lighter pink is near either Sweet Lust or Little Madame. The swatch is not great as it was near my wrist and my jacket rubbed it.

The others all looked pretty, but for me, probably not purchases. Before I could swatch, the baby had enough and we headed home, swatched hand and all!

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Wow, I was online checking this morning and now all these new collections are listed. Here is what I found:

7/18 - Colour Forms, Nordstrom Anniversary collection: most stores already have samples in for presales, so ask your counter. Since the PRO card discount does not apply, I am only getting two items, the Tea Time pigment and the Female Richmetal Highlighter - both are unique enough to pay full price. Plus, knowing new colors are coming out with Overrich, I would rather wait for those.

7/10 - Sonic Chic: These are mineralized blushes and a mini kabuki...I rarely wear blush, so not a collection for me, but from the buzz I am reading, lots of folks are very excited.

7/10 - New View: Mineralized Skin Finish duos that have a matte part and a shimmer part. With two MSF already, not sure I will get more, but if the shimmer is to die for...I'll grab the Light Medium. (Note to self: start using my existing MSF, Beauty Powders, and other similar items. You have a whole drawer full!)

7/10 - Electroflash: Mineralized Eyeshadow Duos, Lipsticks, Lipglass, and a brush. I have always bought the M E/S in the past, but always seem to ignore them on a daily basis (though today I am wearing one!) There are some great swatches of the duos and I think I'll limit myself to the Odd Couple as the purple looks promising. Of course, I like the Pink Split, but not sure I honestly NEED more pinks!

7/31 - LustreTwins: This is a new one. LusterTwins power activate... Ha! Sorry, my childhood is catching up with me! There are 9 Longwears and 3 Nail Lacquers, one is LE the others are new perms. I just returned all my Longwears with B2M, so know I won't be getting those. They never quite worked for me. I hope the Lacquers are pretty as I need something new.

7/31 - Starflash: Now this one I am excited about. There are 12, count them, 12 eyeshadows and 4 repromoted Kohl Power liners. I am hoping that these colors will be more unique than Cool Heat, which I could dup the entire collection. Minus of course Gulf Stream, though it was almost identical to Teal pigment, but being an e/s I had to get it. But,I digress. Talent Pool looks like it could be a dup for Fade, though it is described as blue/green. There are few swatches, but you can see images of all of the pots. It looks like a huge collection for me. Sigh...at least the previous ones will be small.Dreammaker - Frosty yellow gold (Frost) (LE)Grand Entrance - Frosty neutral pink beige (Frost) (LE)Bold & Brazen - Frosty light copper (Frost) (LE)Sunset B. - Frosty mid-tone pink (Frost) (LE)Lotusland - Pinky lavender with gold pearl (Frost) (LE)Talent Pool - Blue green with gold pearl (Frost) (LE)Mink & Sable - Olive green (Frost) (LE)Smoke & Diamonds - Frosty dirty taupe (Frost) (LE)Go - Frosted bronze (Frost) (LE)Glamour Check! - Reddish brown (Frost) (LE)Top Hat - Dirty Indigo (Frost) (LE)Star by Night - Mid-tone blue (Frost) (LE)

8/21 - Cult of Cherry: Here is another I am very excited about. Looks like the fall will be it for me. This one has three quads, all of which are gorgeous. There are so repromotes and perms...as usual, but some of these are ones that for some reason, I have never picked up. Nanogold is the only that I have. So, I'll be getting all three quads unless they are dupable. There are also lipsticks, lipglasses, mattenes, lacquer, blush, and mascara. One of the blushes looks quite pretty and so do the lipsticks. There are a few repromotes like Russian Red and O, but I don't have either. My wallet is quivering!

9/25 - Suite Array: another new one to me. Looks like 8 eyeshadow duos and 8 pearl glide liners. The liners are new from the name, so cannot wait to see what these are. And more duos for me to buy and then ignore! I don't think I have even once used the purple/red duo from 2007.

9/25 - Gold Fever: No swatches up yet, but the collection will include 2 Slimshines, 2 shadesticks, 2 Liquidlast Liners, 3 Fluidlines, 2 Pigments, 2 Glitters, 2 Brushes, 2 Lashes. I'd love new Liquidlast Liner colors and new pigments...HEAVEN! And what do you think? Will the colors be golden? :)

9/25 - MAC for Ungaro: I blogged on this earlier today. The colors are described as Monet's Water Lilies. 2 Lipsticks 1 lipglass 1 See Thru Lip Colour 3 Eye Shadows 1 Paint Pot 2 Cream Colour Bases 1 Beauty Powder 1 Brow Set. I'll post when I see the first swatches. I am excited about this collection. Maybe the Paint Pot will be the silver color I am dying for! The only downside I see, for me, is that it's only being released at department stores and MACs website. I am hoping this won't be a bust like the other "limited release" collections where they go within minutes and then are seen on eBay for exorbitant prices. That plus there is no PRO card discount.

10/2 - CremeSheen: 14 new lipsticks. Guess they are creamy and have a sheen. Ha!

Oct 08 - While I love the idea of a new traincase, since I have my stuff all in a DESK, it sounds a bit restricting!

Oct 08 - Mineralize Line: This is going to be a permanent line. This is a repromotion of Satinfinish, Loose, Skinfinish Natural, Blush, Eyeshadows and Brushes. Suposedly, they will release new items every 6 months. Oh, god! More collection releases? And I had heard that MAC is going to slow down on the LE items! Though, maybe they will be perms to slowly build a perm line. Now, the one thing I do not like about the mineralized e/s is the size. If anyone out there has ever hit metal with one, I'd love to know how long it took. :) I guess that since these lines are getting so popular, it makes sense that they would do this.

10/9 - MAC for Manish Arora: Who I asked? He's an Indian designer. The clothes are like futuristic gladiators and Geisha girls. Actually, pretty awesome, but I'd probably scare my kids. The makeup his runway shows have are awesome and done by MAC, of course. The collection will have: Eye Shadow Palette (6 shades), 2 Lipsticks, 2 Lipglass, 2 Blush. I hope the e/s are all new. Seeing his site, I am very interested in seeing this one. I just hope they do him more justice than I feel they did for Heatherette. While I loved most of the Heatherette collection, I was really hoping for something wild and bold. I thought the e/s trios were pretty, but just that, pretty. Not wild and bold.

Holiday 08 - Red She Said: It's the holiday collection and it looks gorgeous. The image is very glam. There are red bags and red handled brushes. I cannot wait to see if it ends up being prettier than the black holiday sets from 2 years ago.

WOW! Can you believe that I did this whole review while the kids slept? No wonder I got it all done in one sitting. :) I'll have updates as I hear more and see swatches. I am now going to go rest my fingers!

I am so excited. I just got word, via Temptalia (thanks!), about the rumored Ungaro collection. Now I must say, since I am not a designer kind of gal, I had no clue what to expect, but I am pretty interested now. It comes out when Cult of Cherry does, but it's polar opposites! Think, as a MAC key MA says, Monet's Waterlilies. Now, I have way, way, way too many pastels...but I may just have to get this collection as Monet is one of my favorite artists and especially his waterlilies, so anything that reflects that idea, I am all for. I have seen them twice at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris and they were so beautiful I got teary eyed (okay, not hard for me). Pinks, blues, and lilacs. Pinks are my weakness. I have two full palettes, plus others in smaller sets and plenty of pigments too. According to Temptalia, "the 14-item MAC Emanuel Ungaro lineup, which is slated to launch in October, includes lipsticks and lip glosses, eye shadows and liner, cream color bases, blush, mascara and a brow set". CCBs? Still don't get these. I was hoping for new Paint Pots. I dream of a silvery one.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Guess what I got to see at my local Nordies. The July Exclusives. Happy dance!

Of course, I forgot my camera that day! Aargh! I was mostly interested in the pigments and the richmetal highlighters. The MA gave me swatch sheets for the pigments and a few of the RHs.

Here's my take:PigmentsJardin Aires (no swatch) - a repromote. I do like this color as either a highlighter or a lid color for subtler looks.Steel Blue (no swatch) - another repromote. Love this color especially applied wet or over Delft paint pot.Glided Green - pretty, but nothing special.

Circa Plum - another pretty color, but doubt I will get this.

Tea Time - unique matte color with golden glitter. The color itself is not iridescent, so it will be good for neutral, subtler looks. My favorite by far.

Royal Flush - a pretty rusty red. Would be the only other one I may get, though I wonder if the red will annoy my eyes.

Richmetal HighlightersAll are very pretty, though I am interested to see how they wear. I avoided the whole Metal-X group due to creasing.Female - this is the only one I am getting. The swatch does it no justice. The color is a very pale pink with gorgeous green iridescence. Totally will be the it of the collection.

Quick Flash - very pretty, rich gold. I may get this if the formula is worth not getting my discount.

Rose Bullion - Very pretty, I want to compare this to Rose CCB as it looks like it may be similar. I love the color, but hate my CCBs.

I did not have her make me a sheet with the others, but did play with them.

So, all in all, the colors were very pretty, but without being able to get my discount, I am limiting my purchase to the Tea Time pigment and the Female Richmetal Highlighter.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

After seeing the images on Temptalia, I am not sure if the ones in the store are the final versions or if the photos show the right items. The Color Form Powders that I saw were a circular pattern, not the blocked pattern shown. Also the Richmetal Highlighters were in CCB sized pots, not the square ones shown on Tempalia.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

So, again, I am underwhelmed with the new MAC collection. I was really looking forward to these blue and green hues. I only got one, Gulf Stream, and the only reason I got it was that I had a B2M. I actually had enough for two B2M, but could not even pick out a second color. The Gulf Stream e/s is almost identical to Teal pig. Since I know I'll never get around to pressing my pigments, I thought the e/s was marginally worth it. Here's my thoughts looking at them on my pale skin.

Solar White = slightly lighter than White Wheat, WW had more pigmentationWarming Trend = unique, but too warm for me, I prefer PatinaWarm Chill = no pigmentation, prefer Brill or AquavertGulf Stream = looks like a e/s version of Teal pig, this is the one I gotCool Heat = not too different from Parrot that it cannot be duppedClimate Blue = almost a matte with pink glitter, would like if it was more irredescent, is pretty though and who knows...maybe I'll get it.Blue Flame = Deep Truth is prettier, IMHO

I did not like the Slimshines mostly because I did not find any of them unique enough and I don't like the texture. Their coverage is not enough for my taste. I forgot my camera and figured I'd get weird looks if I wore it to Babies R Us, Lowe's, and to see DH. The MA had a gorgeous look of Gulf Stream with Cool Heat in the crease. I'll try it tomorrow and get a photo of it. I also got to check out her look book since they did not put any looks online. One look that sounded pretty was Greenstroke p/p with Warm Chill over it. I'll try that with Aquavert.

Very much looking forward to the July releases...I have more B2M to turn in!Mamade

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for mom. Her doctor is saying that her level of recovery is a miracle. We don't yet have a date for her to come home, but we are anticipating it soon. I know lots of you want to visit once she is up for vistors. She has really been appreciating all the phone calls from everyone. She'll still have physical therapy for probably a year or more as she learns to overcome the paralysis. You don't know how great it was watching her walk, with her walker of course, around her room, down the hall, and anywhere she needs to go. The therapists don't let her use her wheelchair very often now. From everything I have read, the more she pushes now, the better. It sounds like there is a "end date" at which time major recovery stops and then only minor recovery happens. But, as her doctor says, it's a miracle. When we were last up, she was still using the wheelchair and only walking during physical therapy. It was so wonderful to see her walk - it brought tears to my eyes! Thank you again to everyone praying for her. It's truly working.

The kids enjoyed seeing mom and dad as usual. The Blonde Boy is always spoiled by the nurses, therapists, and administrators at the care home. Oh to be a cute, blonde boy! He got ice cream, his first Twinkie, and M&M's while there. Ha! Nothing like a sugar high before having to sit in a car to get home!

Thank you all again for your prayers. Prayer truely does lead to miracles.

Other news is that our little Betty Boop is growing up. Her first tooth broke the surface last night. That explains the nipping I was getting! Got to grab the camera and get the last few toothless grin photos. She has also finally decided that moving around is fun. It looks like she'll be a tushy scooter as she gets very mad when she ends up on her belly. Very, very mad. She figured out the tushy scoot a few days ago and is perfecting it. It's slow going as compared to crawling, but it's cute. She's also learning about standing up at the coffee table. It makes an awesome drum for little hands.

The two also got to have their first bath together. Thankfully they are young enough to not get mad at me putting this photo of them online. It makes bathtime so much easier.